No Plane? No Global Offering? No Need for Media Training?

WE’VE watched something pretty close to a masterclass in crisis related PR delivery this week.
Both British Airways and McCarran International Airport can only be commended for how they reacted in the aftermath of the Las Vegas plane fire.

Each brand used on and offline mediums to convey the very principles of crisis communication – those being swift responsiveness, reassurance, openness, and intention.

Of course, there’s an argument that brands as big as this will always have entertained the need for communication planning and media training.

Add to their scale the fact that they’re perhaps ‘more risky’ businesses in terms of needing to have disaster preparedness, and the average SME could easily be sat there thinking – issues like that don’t apply to me.

True.

Quite probably, you aren’t flying millions of passengers around the globe every year.

Quite probably, you’re not a consumer facing business with such a widely seen and used brand (well – yet!).

Oh, and quite probably you don’t have the budget or the time for big communications teams and details media planning strategies.

….Now for the BUT….

But, no matter how small you are, how consumer facing you are, or how limited your budget, I’d argue every business can benefit hugely from a degree of media training and communications planning.

Remember, you won’t necessarily come face to face with the press ONLY because your plane has caught on fire and your hero employee has averted death and disaster.

Instead, you might come into contact with the press on the basis of:

Something notable happening in your sector on which you might comment

An incident which affects the geography of your business location

Your achievement as a business (or that of your employee)

Changes in your trading dynamics

A government or industry decision which has relevance to your supply chain

Media spotlight falling on your client / supplier

Media attention reaching a member of your staff or your investment company

These are just a snapshot of reasons why the media might take interest in you.

Why then would you want to shy away from the opportunity to embrace communication with them and respond in a manner potentially helpful to your reputation?

Media training and any degree of communication planning has the opportunity to be educational, reassuring, and incredibly thought-provoking in terms of allowing you to look more intensely at your business strategy and the risks therein.

If I can help you explore communication training for any level of your team, or you would like to have a masterclass in strategy, please get in touch.